The field of the present invention is medical equipment, and more particularly, equipment for bedside patient care, and still more particularly, equipment for providing tubes, ducts, lines and the like to patients for transporting oxygen, medicament, or for other treatment.
In hospitals and particularly intensive care units, it is not uncommon for patients to require breathing assistance, a supply of pure oxygen, nutrients, medicament or other treatment requiring the use of tubes, ducts, lines and the like which are attached on or about the patient. Also, in the treatment of hypothermia by a convective apparatus, warmed air must be delivered to an inflatable thermal blanket through a large diameter, flexible duct.
In the case of tubes or ducts providing oxygen from breathing apparatus or warmed air from a blower, the tube or duct may simply be draped over the side of the bed, in which case it may tend to become detached from the patient or patient apparatus to which it is connected. To overcome this disadvantage, it has been proposed to use a generally L-shaped tube support apparatus having a lower portion adapted to fit under a mattress or between a mattress and a frame, and an upwardly extending portion having a notch at the top adapted to support and lock a tube or duct in a fixed position relative to the connection to which the tube or duct is attached, without imparting any axial strain or disconnecting force on the connection. Such apparatus, however, are bulky and inconveniently space-consuming when not in use, as for example during storage or transport.